Scottish tour guides tell us about the most famous castles in a country that's brimming with the imposing structures. Then a Santiago-based American travel writer embarks on a 1,200-mile odyssey through one of the driest places on earth — Chile's Atacama Desert — as he searches for a deeper understanding of his adopted homeland. And listeners call in to share stories and find inspiration for their next travel adventures.

• Scottish tour guides Liz Lister and Helen Houston
• Mark Johanson, author of "Mars on Earth: Wanderings in the World's Driest Desert" (RMB)

• The Rick Steves online guide to Scotland.
• Helen Houston specializes in tours of the historic town and castle at Stirling.
• Liz Lister provides custom walking tours and offers transportation transfers in Edinburgh.
• Liz and Helen cohost the Scottish Blethers podcast from their home bases in Fife, Scotland. They also talk with Rick about how their cultural icons, and even a few tourist clichés, help to reinforce their Scottish national identity. It's on Travel with Rick Steves program #780 from January 2025.
• Mark Johanson is a freelance journalist based in Santiago, Chile, and writes about what he found in the Atacama Desert in his book "Mars on Earth." Mark has also authored a number of books and articles on destinations in South America, Southeast Asia, and the US for Lonely Planet, including "A First-Timer's Guide to Chile's Atacama Desert."
• The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array is a multinational scientific endeavor at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, operating the largest telescope in the world.
• In Rick's advice to a caller planning a honeymoon in Italy, he recommends taxi driver Raffaele Monetti in Sorrento for sightseeing the Amalfi Coast, and the dressy restaurant Il Gabriello at Via Vittoria 51 in Rome. He also suggests viewing the Pitti Palace in Florence with a local guide to avoid lines.